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Virtual Advanced Teacher Training Seminar 2020 Participant Guide TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 2 Welcome
Page 3 How to Use This Guide
Page 4-5 Featured Speakers & Artists
Page 6 Daily Schedule
Page 7 Preparing to Watch the Performances
Page 8 Cross-over Themes
Pages 9-16 Performance Resources (listed in workshop order)
Amadeus Into the Woods Red Sunday in the Park with George Medea Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tosca Present Laughter
Page 17-20 Participant Directory
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Teaching to me is the sacred profession. My life was saved by teachers, first a Latin teacher in high school, and then Oscar Hammerstein who was a teacher. Stephen Sondheim
Welcome to the first Virtual Advanced Teacher Training Seminar! This unique seminar will honor our most revered honorary board members, Zoe Caldwell and Sir Peter Shaffer, both of whom were our most treasured teachers. For thirty years they taught us what theater really is. When they came to Dayton and when we met them in New York City, we knew our lives would be changed.
Stephen Sondheim has also been a great teacher to us. We saw the original productions of Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods and later almost all his revivals, as well as producing Into the Woods with our students for our annual musical. He turned 90 in March and, as the world celebrates, we too would like to honor him.
There has perhaps never been a time when the chance to look forward to something, to create, to learn or to feel hopeful is more critically needed. We hope this virtual foray into world-class performing arts feeds your soul, fills your cup and inspires you to persevere in the life-saving work of teaching.
Adventurously yours,
Suzy Bassani Mary Campbell Zopf Emily Gray Muse Machine Muse Machine Secondary Schools Founder Executive Director Program Director Page 3
How to Use This Guide
We are delighted to showcase eight seminal works of theatre and opera as well as the lives of three extraordinary artists who helped bring them to life. Featured interviews with four special friends of Muse Machine—and significant artists in their own right—pull back the curtain even further.
In order to prepare for these experiences, please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the Guide: • Except for the Participant Directory, all the resources in this printable Guide are also linked on the event website: www.musemachine2020.wixsite.com/virtual-atts-2020.
o Print the Guide or refer to it as a digital document. Links (underlined in blue) will take you to the appropriate section or open a new browser window.
o We recommend printing page 6 (the Daily Schedule) and posting it somewhere prominent next to your computer.
o Performances and their resources are listed in workshop order. • We are pleased to be able to share performances that are available on various online platforms for free or a nominal fee. Please tell us if you have trouble accessing the videos.
• Pace yourself by watching the performance videos over the next couple weeks in advance of the workshops.
Your Zoom meeting invitation will be sent in a separate email in the first week of June. Please monitor your email for other updates, especially links to the featured interview recordings. The Muse team looks forward to seeing you on June 8! We can be contacted any time with questions or concerns. Please email Emily Gray at [email protected].
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Featured Speakers & Artists
Guest Lecturers
Bob Lear John Sheehan
Artist Spotlights
Sir Peter Shaffer Zoe Caldwell Stephen Sondheim
Featured Interviews
Michael Maryann Lonny Charlie Pennington Plunkett Price Whitehead Page 5
Speaker & Artist Bios
Please refer to the ATTS event website for expanded biographies and additional links. Bob Lear is International Producer of the Global Arts Corps. Bob sees most everything on the stage in NY and has followed the American and European theatre closely since the 1960's, having lived in Paris for 14 years.
John Sheehan has directed plays, musicals and operas throughout the U.S., the UK, Ireland and Vietnam including Amadeus and The Seahorse for The Human Race and the Viva, Victoria! Opening Night Gala in Dayton, which was broadcast live on PBS.
Sir Peter Shaffer was best known for his hugely popular philosophical dramas The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), Equus (1973) and, in particular, Amadeus (1979). The last of these, was a highly sought after ticket at the National Theatre and on Broadway, and was turned into one of the most successful films of the 1980s, which won eight Academy Awards including best picture.
Zoe Caldwell was, according to Thomas Schumacher, Chairman of the Broadway League, “indisputably Broadway royalty with four Tony Awards and four decades of thrilling performances in work ranging from Tennessee Williams to Euripides to Terrence McNally. Her audiences were struck by her elegance, her strength, and the penetrating timbre of her extraordinary voice. But those of us lucky enough to have worked with her likely equally remember her kindness and beaming smile."
Stephen Sondheim is best known for the startling complexity of his lyricism and music. His contributions to West Side Story and Gypsy in the 1950s brought him recognition as a rising star of Broadway. His major works for the theater also include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods. Michael Pennington is an English actor, director and writer. Together with director Michael Bogdanov, he founded the English Shakespeare Company in 1986 and was its Joint Artistic Director until 1992. He is an Honorary Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Michael played opposite Dame Judi Dench in Peter Shaffer's play The Gift of the Gorgon in 1992. Maryann Plunkett is a TONY, Obie and Drama Desk Awards-winning actress. She’s toured Europe, China, and Australia with Richard Nelson’s trilogy The Gabriel Family Plays which first premiered at NY’s Public Theatre and was televised on PBS. She was recently seen at the Public in Nelson’s newest play The Michaels and online in his first virtual play What Do We Need To Talk About? Broadway credits include Agnes of God, Sunday in the Park with George, Me and My Girl (Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical), The Crucible, St. Joan, The Seagull, A Man for All Seasons.
Lonny Price directed Sweeney Todd starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel at the ENO and Lincoln Center. Lonny’s New York Philharmonic credits include Company; Sondheim: The Birthday Concert (Emmy Award); and Passion. His documentary, Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened, premiered at the New York Film Festival, and was named one of The New York Times’ top 10 films of 2016.
Charlie Whitehead is a Producer and General Manager who has worked at all levels of theatre and film since 1998. His Broadway credits include: The Beauty Queen Of Leenane and The Play What I Wrote. In 2012, Charlie and his mother, Zoe Caldwell, finally got the chance to work on two productions together. First was the film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and second was the one-woman show Elective Affinities, which was Zoe's final performance on stage. Page 6
Daily Schedule
Sunday, June 7: Watch the Tonys directed by Lonny Price at
www.TonyAwards.com!
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
June 8 June 9 June 10
10:00 Opening Remarks AM
10:30 Workshop 4: Sunday in Workshop 1: Amadeus Workshop 7: Tosca AM the Park with George
12:00 Lunch Break PM
1:00 Workshop 2: Into the Workshop 8: Present Workshop 5: Medea PM Woods Laughter
2:30 Break PM Workshop 6: Sweeney 3:00 Workshop 3: Red Todd: The Demon Barber Curriculum Connections PM of Fleet Street
4:30 Day 3 concludes and Day 1 concludes Day 2 concludes PM Happy Hour begins
6:00 Happy Hour Ends! PM
Watch all performances before June 8 Answer critical thinking prompts right after watching Read/watch supplemental links in the days just before the workshop
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Preparing to Watch the Performances
Stop. Pour a glass of wine. Choose your viewing device (we recommend your largest computer screen or a smart TV but even your smartphone will do in a pinch).
Darken the room and enjoy the show.
Easy enough?
Seriously, we want your experience with each performance to be the next best thing to seeing it in the theater. Treat yourself to a date night (or eight)!
The next several pages do include important information. There are handy reminders about the date and time of each workshop, the runtime and even links to the videos.
You will find cross-over themes that relate to multiple performances and 3-4 critical thinking prompts specific to each performance. Read the questions ahead if you like, but don’t worry—there’s no test! We suggest answering the prompts right after finishing each video. Use them to gather your thoughts, deepen your thinking and generate discussion for the workshop Q&As.
A handful of supplemental materials are also listed for each performance. Check them out right before the workshop. They will give you a greater appreciation for the artists behind the work.
Remember that we are an email away if you need technical assistance. Email Emily Gray at [email protected].
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Cross-Over Themes
As you watch, you will begin to see thematic bridges among the plays and musicals. These questions highlight only some of the potential connections!
Theme 1: “A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man” The title of James Joyce’s first novel, above, is an example of Bildungsroman, a literary device that also defines the genre of the Coming of Age novel in English. How does the literary concept of Bildungsroman translate into drama?
Theme 2: The Business of Art – Patrons, Critics and Changing Taste In both Amadeus and Red but also in Sunday in the Park with George, the influence of patrons shapes the possibility for artists to grow, to work and to radically change the artistic taste of their times. It may also compromise the artist or force her/him into conformism. In our own time, who are art’s patrons? Who incubates genius? What is the relationship today between art and commerce – in the visual and performing arts?
Theme 3: Storytelling in Musical Theatre All musical theatre is, in fact, told through both vocal and orchestral music. How is music part of the drama and what is its contribution that is not included in the words? Is truth-telling essential to art? Deception figures in the plots of Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd and Tosca. Would we appreciate or want to experience a story or a theme that is not honest? How can we tell the difference? How do these characters reach the end of their struggles and what results have they achieved? Is there such a thing as “happily ever after”? Does understanding what has helped them to grow give us satisfaction? After witnessing the fear and pity of tragedy can we live in a more meaningful way?
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Amadeus Workshop: Monday, June 8, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by Bob Lear Watch Ahead: YouTube (rent or buy) or Amazon Prime (rent or buy). Director's Cut! Cast and Crew: Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Book: Peter Shaffer | Director: Miloš Forman | Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge Run time: 3 hours
Critical Thinking Prompts
1. How does the playwright construct tension through contrasts of character and language?
2. How do the opposite passions of Mozart and Salieri build the emotional arc of the play? Is there a dark/light dichotomy driving the play?
3. Where does the music of the production become a character in itself?
4. With which contemporary musicians can students today relate to Mozart?
Supplemental Resources
• INTERVIEW with Michael Pennington (password: muse123!) • Theater Talk: Peter Shaffer Discusses “Amadeus” • Peter Shaffer: Mozart’s music • Peter Shaffer: Amadeus – not an objective biography • We also pay tribute to Peter Shaffer's historic (self-) preservation comedy, Lettice and Lovage, that garnered awards in London and New York for the play and its laugh-a- minute star, Dame Maggie Smith: https://youtu.be/LDRyHYDH7xI
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Monday
Into the Woods Workshop: Monday, June 8, 1:00 PM-2:30 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by John Sheehan Watch Ahead: Hoopla (requires a Dayton Metro Library card) Cast and Crew: Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim | Book & Director: James Lapine | Starring: Tom Aldredge, Joanna Gleason, Bernadette Peters Run time: 2 ½ hours
Critical Thinking Prompts
1. At what point does individual responsibility become responsibility to the community and how do the characters learn the difference?
2. Why does the lyric change from “children must listen” to “children should listen” to “children will listen”? What does it mean “careful before you say, ‘Listen to me’”?
3. What does the expression mean “Be careful what you wish for”?
Supplemental Resources
• CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood: During the 1995 revival of Company, Stephen Sondheim discusses his relationship with mentors and teachers, anxiety, the modern American musical, concept musicals and his body of work. • All eight of Sondheim’s Tony wins (and one infamous loss) as well as his Lifetime Achievement in Theatre Award • Stephen Sondheim Theatre Unveiled on Broadway
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Monday Monday
Red Workshop: Monday, June 8, 3:00 PM-4:30 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by Bob Lear Watch Ahead: PBS Great Performances (free—EXPIRES May 27) or sign up for a free trial and watch on BroadwayHD. Cast and Crew: Book: John Logan | Music: Adam Cork | Director: Michael Grandage | Starring: Alfred Molina, Alfred Enoch Run time: 1 ½ hours
Critical Thinking Prompts
1. What examples of Bildungsroman come to mind from intermediate and secondary-level English and Literature curricula? What characteristics do these novels share? What is the journey of the young protagonist and how are the challenges of growing up shaped by time, setting and culture?
2. How does the literary concept of Bildungsroman translate into drama?
3. How does it especially apply to the young Mozart in Amadeus and Mark Rothko’s young intern painter in Red?
Supplemental Resources
• Red on Broadway promotional video (this production featured Eddie Redmayne) • Alfred Molina’s Appearances on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson • Mark Rothko’s Mirrors of the Soul
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Tuesday
Sunday in the Park with George Workshop: Tuesday, June 9, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by John Sheehan Watch Ahead: Hoopla (requires a Dayton Metro Library card) Cast and Crew: Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim | Book & Director: James Lapine | Starring: Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters Run time: 2 ½ hours
Critical Thinking Prompts
1. Who determines what art is good?
2. Why does young George feel afraid and adrift? Is it typical for an artist to feel this way? Do you think Sondheim may have drawn on his own life experiences to dramatize both Georges?
3. How would you compare Seurat’s process of drawing individuals before he places them into his landscape with the way films are made today?
Supplemental Resources
• INTERVIEW with Maryann Plunkett (password: muse123!) • “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Georges Seurat • Georges Seurat Artist Bio • The Late Show Interview with Bernadette Peters
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Tuesday
Medea Workshop: Tuesday, June 9, 1:00 PM-2:30 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by Bob Lear Watch Ahead: YouTube (free) Cast and Crew: Book: Euripides | Adaptation: Robinson Jeffers | Director: Robert Whitehead | Starring: Zoe Caldwell, Judith Anderson Run time: 1 ½ hours
Critical Thinking Prompts
1. What makes this production starring Zoe Caldwell a performance for the ages?
2. How does Miss Caldwell create sympathy for a character that co-exists with our horror at what Medea does? What is our own frailty, the frailty of our own humanity, in a dual response?
3. How far is too far? Where are the limits to revenge and the rage to right a terrible wrong, in a society of law and morality? When is a tooth for a tooth not the answer?
Supplemental Resources
• INTERVIEW with Charlie Whitehead (password: muse123!) • Watch the Women in Theatre interview with Zoe • Zoe Caldwell Wins the Tony Award for Medea • Zoe Caldwell's 4th Tony award originating the role of Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Broadway production of Master Class demonstrates the breadth of her range from deepest drama to highest comedy: Master Class Reviewer Reel • Zoe Caldwell Wins the Tony Award for Master Class
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Tuesday
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Workshop: Tuesday, June 9, 3:00 PM-4:30 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by John Sheehan Watch Ahead: Amazon Prime (rent or buy) Cast and Crew: Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim | Book: Hugh Wheeler | Director: Harold Prince | Starring: Angela Lansbury, George Hearn Run time: 2 ¼ hours
Critical Thinking Prompts 1. Usually songs slow down a narrative but, in this case, they propel the action and support the characters. Which ones did you find most successful? 2. How many clues did you pick up in the course of the mystery? 3. Sondheim wrote “to seek revenge may lead to hell but everyone does it, and seldom as well.” If the lesson to be learned from Sweeney Todd & Tosca is that revenge isn’t the answer, why do we find these stories so satisfying?
Supplemental Resources
• INTERVIEW with Lonny Price (password: muse123!) • The Real Sweeney Todd? From Penny Dreadful to Broadway Musical • Masterworks Broadway VEVO Interview: Angela Lansbury on Sweeney Todd • NYT Arts: Musical Motifs in Sondheim – Anthony Thommasini • A clip of the NY Philharmonic concert version with Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson, staged by Lonny Price
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Wednesday
Tosca Workshop: Wednesday, June 10, 10:30 PM-12:00 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by John Sheehan Watch Ahead: Rent at Met Opera on Demand or sign up for free trial to view for free. Make sure you watch the 2018 production! Cast and Crew: Composer: Giacomo Puccini | Librettist: Giuseppe Giacosa & Luigi Illica | Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume | Director: Sir David McVicar | Starring: Sonya Yoncheva, Vittorio Grigolo, Željko Lučić Run time: 2 ¼ hours
Critical Thinking Prompts 1. Tosca and Sweeney both respond to injustice with violence. Although striking back rarely works, are they justified? 2. All four of the main characters are betrayed; how does each one cope with that turn of events? 3. Tragedy is defined as a story in which the main character is destroyed - as a consequence of a tragic flaw, either moral weakness or an inability to cope with misfortune - for the purpose of eliciting a catharsis of fear or pity from the audience. Does the opera accomplish this?
Supplemental Resources
• Maria Callas is regarded as the finest Tosca ever to take the stage: Tosca – Act Two excerpt @ Covent Garden with Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi • Why Tosca is opera’s greatest thriller – with footage of Puccini! • NYT Arts: Musical Motifs in Tosca – Anthony Thommasini
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Wednesday
Present Laughter Workshop: Wednesday, June 10, 1:00 PM-2:30 PM including 45 min. Q&A Presented by Bob Lear Watch Ahead: PBS Great Performances (free—EXPIRES May 27) or sign up for a free trial and watch on BroadwayHD Cast and Crew: Book: Noël Coward | Director: Moritz von Stuelpnagel | Starring: Kevin Kline, Kate Burton, Kristine Nielsen, Cobie Smulders Run time: 2 ¼ hours
Critical Thinking Prompts
1. What in Present Laughter makes us laugh?
2. As you look at this light comedy in the context of classic Restoration Comedy or Moliere farces, what similarities strike you in terms of the central characters and their “comic flaws”?
3. Can Present Laughter strike a chord with young people today, even though its background is distant? Are there contemporary stand-ins from popular comic or animated films with extravagant, ridiculously self-centered characters?
Supplemental Resources
• "Behind the Curtain" with Roundabout's production of Present Laughter • The 50-minute, two-part South Bank Show is the definitive film biography of Noël Coward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2gdTHONfyc • Words and Music of Noël Coward Page 17
Participant Directory
Thank you all for making the arts part of your life and sharing that love with others.
Loretta Amos Nicole Askew Northmont Middle School City Day Community School Grade(s) Taught: 7-8 Grade(s) Taught: 5-8 Subject(s): All/special Subject(s): Reading education
Pino Bassani Suzy Bassani Muse Friend Muse Machine Founder
Robin Blathers Angela Bruno Miamisburg Middle School Trotwood-Madison High School Grade(s) Taught: 8 Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Subject(s): Social Studies Subject(s): Choir and Piano
Heather Campbell-Lieberman Butler Tech Mary Campbell Zopf Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Muse Machine Subject(s): English and I coach Arts instructors
Lois Clond Rosalie Catalano Incarnation School Muse Machine Grade(s) Taught: 4-8 Subject(s): Orchestra
Crystal DeYoung Becky Davis Butler Tech Retired Grade(s) Taught: 11-12 Subject(s): English
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Janet Ferguson Kimberly Ferraro Northmont Middle School Incarnation School Grade(s) Taught: 7-8 Grade(s) Taught: PreK-6 Subject(s): School Counselor Subject(s): Spanish
Corrinne Fischer Tamar Fishbein Northmont High School Ponitz CTC Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Subject(s): Math Subject(s): ELA
Jen Ghrist Tower Heights Middle School Patti Giering Grade(s) Taught: 6-8 Muse Machine Subject(s): Music
Jillian Hall Emily Gray Edwin Joel Brown Middle School Muse Machine Grade(s) Taught: 8 Subject(s): ELA
Pamela Jacobs West Carrollton High School Macy Janney Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 (& Muse Friend college level) Subject(s): English
Farhat Bobby Khan Shannon Kernan Morton Middle School Wayne High School Grade(s) Taught: 6 Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Subject(s): Language Arts and Subject(s): Drama and ELA Social Studies
Tara Knopp-Ashworth Marjorie Loyacano Carroll High School Dixie Middle School Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Grade(s) Taught: 4-8 Subject(s): Spanish Subject(s): Gifted/ELA
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Robin Manning Sherri Masline West Carrollton Middle School Incarnation School Grade(s) Taught: 8 Grade(s) Taught: 1-8 Subject(s): Science Subject(s): General Music
Liz Maxson Fairlawn Local Schools Judy McCormick Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Muse Friend Subject(s): ELA
Thom Meyer Penni Meyer Kettering Fairmont, retired Kettering Fairmont, retired Grade(s) Taught: Retired Grade(s) Taught: Retired Subject(s): Photo and Art Subject(s): English
Audrey Miller Erin Mullarkey-Curliss Alter High School Beavercreek City Schools Grade(s) Taught: 10-12 Grade(s) Taught: 2 Subject(s): Public Speaking, Subject(s): All academic areas English
Ken Neff Eric Neuenschwander Greenville High School Reynoldsburg City Schools Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Grade(s) Taught: 5-8 Subject(s): All subjects for Subject(s): Music credit recovery
Elizabeth Perry Ken Ridenour The Overfield School Northridge Local Schools Grade(s) Taught: PreK-3 Grade(s) Taught: 8-12 Subject(s): Art Subject(s): World Languages
Kristan Runyan Tecumseh Middle School Wendy Scholl Grade(s) Taught: 7 Muse Friend Subject(s): Social Studies
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Doug Scholz Sharon Scholz Muse Friend Muse Friend
Rachel Smith Hilda Shirley Summit Academy Xenia Coy Middle School Grade(s) Taught: 8 Grade(s) Taught: 6 Subject(s): Intervention Subject(s): ELA Specialist
Anthony Sollenberger Dixie High School Dawn Stamper Grade(s) Taught: 5-12 Beavercreek High School Subject(s): Choir, General Grade(s) Taught: 9-12 Music, History of Rock and Roll, Subject(s): ELA Theatre Arts
Becky Suhr Christina Suppo Incarnation School Northridge Local Schools Grade(s) Taught: PreK-K, 5- Grade(s) Taught: 5-12 8Music and Band Subject(s): Music/Choir
Stacey Ward Jan Wagoner The Overfield School Retired Grade(s) Taught: PreK-3
Sheri Weaver Wright Brothers Elementary Grade(s) Taught: Carolyn Wheeler Kindergarten Muse Machine Subject(s): ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies
Jolene Young Edwin Joel Brown Middle School
Grade(s) Taught: 7-8 Subject(s): School Counseling